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chickenlump wrote:

MS, please don't mess with Flickr :-<

I have looked at Flicker for hosting some of my photography and really couldn't find anything there that was attractive.
The whole site feels just sorta off and incomplete. Like a pre-release beta.

Yahoo! has Flickr. I love Flickr. Microsoft will ruin Flickr. And I just renewed my Pro account. If Microsoft buys Yahoo! and ruins Flickr I will kill them. To death. Or just complain and demand my $24 back and move my photos somewhere else.

I'd rather Google buy Yahoo! and keep it away from Microsoft. Of course MS could probably offer a much higher number than Google ever could. So I am scared.

Though really, the only thing I use that Yahoo! has is Flickr.

Oh, and occasionally Konfabulator. I wonder what will happen if MS gets Konfabulator... Windows Gadgets in Konfabulator? Gadgets on OS X? Universal 100% Gadgets and Widgets... none of which I even use anymore so what's the point? Meh.

I don't use Yahoo! search. I don't use Yahoo! maps. I don't use Yahoo! for anything much anymore. I'd much prefer a Google absorbing Yahoo! outcome. Yahoogle! would be much better than ... [Insert witty amalgamation of Yahoo! and Microsoft here].

Gooplehoo = Google + Apple + Yahoo

maleko wrote:

MS bought Facebook and has not changed it at all.  I thought they might get rid of iphone.facebook.com but they didn't.

Hah. No, they bought a 1.6% stake in Facebook, for which they got advertising rights.  When you look at companies that Microsoft actually did acquire (Bungie, Hotmail, Connectix), Microsoft definitely changes them.

Microsoft will mould the sites to whatever they feel works for them. Which unfortunately does not work for anyone else. In many ways.

Alien wrote:

Y'all are taking this as if Yahoo!, Google and Microsoft are the only means of using the internet available.

,xtG
.tsooJ

For most people, they are.

Probably 80% of the people I deal with day to day have either a yahoo, hotmail, or gmail email account.

Yahoo's been fishing for other bids. 20 billion isn't petty cash, tho.

Bat wrote:

Should go down today. Everything lines up. Magic Eight-ball & tea leaves agree, crystal ball breaks out the Cristal.

sounds like they need to be recalibrated. They are not supposed to agree, only giving info that is complementary.

You would think M$, would be smart enough to develope it's own search site, using 11.3 billion dollars of it's own money.

Oh! wait I forgot the M$, mindset !

Yahoo was asking its shareholders then for another year to get things back in order. That year is now up, it hasn't happened, Yang is firing staff to reduce operating costs... but it looks like they'll still play hard to get.

Sat Feb 9, 5:43 PM ET

SAN FRANCISCO - Yahoo Inc.'s board will reject Microsoft Corp.'s $44.6 billion takeover bid after concluding the unsolicited offer undervalues the slumping Internet pioneer, a person familiar with the situation said Saturday.

The decision could provoke a showdown between two of the world's most prominent technology companies with Internet search leader Google Inc. looming in the background. Leery of Microsoft expanding its turf on the Internet, Google already has offered to help Yahoo avert a takeover and urged antitrust regulators to take a hard look at the proposed deal.

If the world's largest software maker wants Yahoo badly enough, Microsoft could try to override Yahoo's board by taking its offer — originally valued at $31 per share — directly to the shareholders. Pursuing that risky route probably will require Microsoft to attempt to oust Yahoo's current 10-member board.

If the world's largest software maker wants Yahoo badly enough, Microsoft could try to override Yahoo's board by taking its offer — originally valued at $31 per share — directly to the shareholders. Pursuing that risky route probably will require Microsoft to attempt to oust Yahoo's current 10-member board.

Alternatively, Microsoft could sweeten its bid. Many analysts believe Microsoft is prepared to offer as much as $35 per share for Yahoo, which still boasts one of the Internet's largest audiences and most powerful advertising vehicles despite a prolonged slump that has hammered its stock.

Yahoo's board reached the decision after exploring a wide variety of alternatives during the past week, according to the person who spoke to The Associated Press. The person didn't want to be identified because the reasons for Yahoo's rebuff won't be officially spelled out until Monday morning.

Microsoft and Yahoo declined to comment Saturday on the decision, first reported by The Wall Street Journal on its Web site.

Yahoo's board concluded Microsoft's offer is inadequate even though the company couldn't find any other potential bidders willing to offer a higher price.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/microsoft_yahoo

It's a bit odd to see that on Yahoo itself... Anyway, they already lost money by dithering. As for getting their shareholders in line, Yahoo's stock price surged when MS' bid was announced, but MS' own stock price fell 6% on the news; and the offer is half MS common stock, half cash.

This story isn't over yet.

Finally nearing the end, I think. Not there yet, but...

Yahoo seemingly made its position absolutely clear -- it felt Microsoft's offer of $31 a share, a 62 percent premium on current prices at the time of the offer, was unfair and undervalued the company.  It argued that anything less than $37 a share, or roughly a 91 percent premium on the price at the time, would be unsatisfactory. 

In the end Microsoft dropped its offer, citing that Yahoo's expectations were unrealistic, while Yahoo tried desperately to reassure employees and shareholders that it had a plan to weather the tough times ahead.

However, it didn't take long for Yahoo to apparently start hoping that Microsoft would consider pursuing it again.  In a move like something out of a television drama, the company announced only 48 hours after Microsoft dropped its bid that it would be willing to negotiate for a sub $37 price and that it would be happy to reopen talks with Microsoft.

...

Yahoo is getting blasted by its largest shareholder, Capital Research Global Investors, one of the most respected investment institutions on Wall Street.  Gordon Crawford, a portfolio manager with the firm remarked in the WSJ article, "I'm extremely disappointed in Jerry Yang, I think he overplayed a weak hand. And I'm even more disappointed in the independent directors who were not responsive to the needs of independent shareholders."

In a separate New York Times article, Crawford continues to voice his disapproval stating, "I am extremely angry at Jerry Yang and at the so-called independent board."

In regards to Bostock's claims of shareholder support he challenges, "I would love to know who these shareholders are. It’s none of the ones that I talked to today. Everybody I talked to would have sold their stock at $34."

He continues, "I’m hoping that there is such an outpouring of outrage that the board is embarrassed into revisiting this thing, but I’m not optimistic about that."

A little longer as Yahoo's price drops, MS renews its offer, & it's all over, I think.

more, links

ed sp

Last edited by Bat (2008-05-06 4:31 pm)

And as soon as they buy them out, yahoo mail disappears as does yahoo messenger. Competition is a nasty thing. How many more monopolies does Microsoft need?

Tetrachloride wrote:

Yahoo is the reluctant bride, playing hard to get.   Ballmer puts up a dowry.   As the world turns.....

We got news now, you betcha.

Yahoo rejected Microsoft's advances and demanded more money, Microsoft dropped its bid, Yahoo said it might want to make a deal, but Microsoft said no way.  Thus the Microsoft-Yahoo saga, ended, correct?  Not quite, it appears that a new chapter is about begin as Yahoo faces its most significant threat to its independence, this time from within.

Over the last week, billionaire investor Carl Icahn has been amassing shares, and not so quietly building a massive stake in Yahoo.  Now Icahn is moving ahead with plans to run a slate of dissident board members who if elected will force the company to sell itself to Microsoft.

Last night Icahn selected his "dream team" of 10 new directors, including himself.  His other selections are Keith Meister, vocal Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, and Viacom's former chief executive Frank J. Biondi Jr.

Yahoo Battles Billionaire Icahn For Board Control